A grieving mum whose teenage daughter died after being knocked down by a dangerous driver is "keeping her memory alive" with a unique tribute.
Last year, 14-year-old Courtney Ellis, from Haydock in St Helens, was fatally injured in a crash on Blackbrook Road, shortly before 10pm on Saturday, September 19.
The crash happened after Courtney had been in a park with a friend and her sister. The teenager, whose mum described her as "bubbly" and having "a great sense of humour "was taken to hospital and later died from her injuries.
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At the time, Merseyside Police arrested two teenagers in connection with her death who were later released from custody and investigations continue.
Courtney's mum, Angela Burke, said her grief has "taken her to dark places," but that a new tribute to Courtney has "lifted her spirits."
A new memorial bench and tree in Courtney's name has been unveiled, with a "unique" message that Angela said Courtney "would have loved."
Angela told the ECHO: "I was speaking to my local councillor, Cllr McQuade, not long after Courtney passed away just to discuss the measures on the road she got killed on in regards to speeding cars.
"He suggested it because I’d said I wanted to do something in Courtney's memory and he said we could get a bench and tree.
"It was just to keep her memory alive, so when people see it and they see the plaque her memory will come into people heads. People can sit there and talk about her and it’s also somewhere for me and my family to sit."
Angela said her grief "comes in waves" and that her children "have kept her going" at this difficult time.
She recently visited the new memorial bench with Courtney's grandad Paul, her partner Philip and siblings Morgan, Roman and Harper.
Angela said: "I was dead emotional, I get emotional thinking about it now. The grief was taking me to dark places along the way so having that there now has lifted my spirits for a little bit now.
"I could be feeling good the next couple of days or weeks and then you get the bad days. The bad days can be really low.
"It’s had a horrible impact. My grief has been in waves and my other kids have kept me going.
"Where it happened, it's hard for my eldest daughter to go. Morgan was best friends with Courtney. It’s hard to drive past it or go past it.
"Where she got killed on the road, there’s a field with a little park. I thought it would be nice there, to take my youngest kids there and they can play football and I can sit on the bench.
"I posted it on Facebook and it was unbelievable how many people were saying its a really nice idea. I had people I don't know say they remember Courtney's story so they will go to the bench and talk about her and these are people I don't even know.
"I just want people to go there and to respect it."
On Courtney's memorial bench, it reads "A mums adoration a special bond of creation, a sisters love is titanium."
Angela said she wanted the plaque to be unique and that the message is a mix of two songs Courtney loved - her favourite song with her mum and another she loved to "sing around the house" with big sister and best friend Morgan.
Angela said: "I like unique stuff and Courtney was the same. She would keep up with the trends like her school friends with the designer clothes etc but she did like unique things.
"She was a very bubbly girl. She had a great sense of humour. She was very protective of her siblings, especially her eldest sibling Morgan.
"She was so caring and she was so sentimental like me. She would be so made up I did it, I know she would.
"Courtney would’ve loved the idea of that."
